Paper-feeding machine.



T. c. DEXTER L V. GARNER.

PAPER PEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. Z5, 1909.

T. C. DEXTER 6v V. GARNER.

PAPER FEEDING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED rmms, 1909.

959,319. Patented May 24,1910.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

ma/5mm( fw/f, M ff@ T. C. DEXTER & V. GARNER.

PAPER FEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED Humm, 1909.

959,31 9, r Patented May 24, 1910 6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

T. C. DEXTER & V. GARNER. PAPER FEEDING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED 121113.25, 1909.

Patented May 24, 1910.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

T. C. DEXTER & V. GARNER.

PAPER PBBDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED IEIB.25, 1909.

- "STATES" PATENT OEEIOE.

TALBOT c. DEXTER ANnvERNON oARNER-OE PEARL RIVER, New Yorin, AssIsNORs,

:BY DIRECT AND MEs'NE ASSIGNMENTS, To DEXTER-FOLDING QOMEANY, 0E PEARL RIVER' NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OE NEW YORK -rArERrE'EnINe MACHINE.

To all whom it mo/ z/comem: 'l w\,

Be it known that we, TALRoT C., DEXTER and VERNON GARNER, both citizens of the United States, and residents of Pearl River,

The present invention relates articularly to improvements yin thesheet elivery devices of automatic paper feeding machines in which a pile of sheets is supported upon an automatically elevated table and the successive sheets arefed forward by suitable feeding oit" devices and then delivered from the pile b suitable sheet delivery mechanism, usual y in the form of drop roller mechanism, to be delivered thereby to some suitable sheet conveying mechanism which supplies thesuccessive sheets toa printing press, older, ruling machine or other machine designed to operate upon sheets of paper.

The main object of the present invention is to provide such an automatic paper feed ing machine with a simple and effectivemechanism at the delivery end of the machine for accurately detecting the resence of more than a single thickness o sheets, and in the event of the presence of two or more sheets, to move back slightly the under sheet or sheets while the top sheet is fed from the pile by the drop roller deiivery mechanism.

The present improvements are particularly designed for feeding extra heavy or thick sheets of paper such, for instance, as cardboard, which presents unusual diiiicuity in separating and. feeding.

The present invention hasbeen designed in the form of an attachment which may be applied to the ordina automatic paper feed-A ing machine now'on t emarket, but 1t willof course be understood that it is not intended `j v longitudinal sectional view of a paper feed to limit the scope of the invention to its attachment form. The calipering and separating devices comprise aflower roller op? erating beneath the plane of feed of sheet-s `and rotating with its upper periphery moving rearwardly ory toward the pile of sheets, an upper caliperin member either in the form of -a roller orl s `oe movable toward and away from the lowerroller and-'operating through adgustable means bywhich limitA of approac toward the `lower roller can be v l Speeicaton ot fetter! *Patent Application mee February as; serial No.

\ feed and are supported just above t peri hery of 5 roller with sheet.

l .the lower sheet or Patented May 24,1910. 479,957.

regulatedtO a nicety, and one or more lower ca ipermg members or shoes' which are yieldingly mounted beneath the lane of uppel the lower roller, so as to nory' prevent the engagement of said lower the lower surface of a single mal n win be understood that the usual faid- -ing oil and delivery devices are employed in connection with the improved calipering and separating devices. In operation, the feed Ing O devices move the top sheet of the pile through the ealipering and separating devices and a sheet delivery mechanism comes into operation immediately after the operation of the ealipering' and separating devices. In the event of two or moresheets being fed forward to the calipering and' separatingA devices, the yieldingly mounted lower caliperng members will be forced downward by the action of the lowering of the upper ca ipering members so as to force sheets into engageme nt with the upper periphery of the lower sepa rat-mg rollers, with the result that the lowery sheet or sheets will be positively movedv rearwardly toward the pile, whilethe upper sheet is moving forwardly into position to be taken by the delivery mechanism. The caliperrng and separating devices complete their o eration approximately simultane ously with the feeding Oil" devices and just prior to the action of the sheet delivery drop rollers which take the single se rated top sheet and feed it from the pile In the usual manner.

In order that our invention may be fully understood, we will first describe the saineI with reference to the accompanying drawr ings and afterward point out the novelty more particularly. in the annexed claims.

'In-said drawings, Figure l is a vertical ing machine showing the application of the presentl invention, parts of the machine bemg omitted for the sake 'of clearness. Fig. 2 1s a similar view on a larger scaleof the calipering and separating devices and drop roller de ivery mechanism, the parts being shown in the position assumed at the start Fig. 3 is of the calipering and separating operations.

a similar view showing the parts inthe position assumed `at the completion Fig. 4 is a rear vertical elevation of the parts of the mechanism shown in Figs. 2 and 3 in the position of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view of the preferred form of the upper calipering member showing the arrangement of gears driving the upper 10calipering roller. Figs. 6 and 7 are detail vertical sectional views illustratin the operation of the sheet calipering an separating devices. Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic plan view illustrating the arrangement of the main parts o f an automatic paper feeding machine having the present improvements applied thereto. Fig. 9` is a detail vertical sectional view showing a modified form of uppr calipering member.

stated above, the specific embodiment of the present invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, comprises an attachment for an automatic paper feeding machine such as is now in common use. It

will be understood that theffollowing refer` ence to the well known arts of such a feeding machine is inten ed in the broadest sense as illustrating the general features of a machine which would ordinarily be used in connection with the present improvements.

The machine may consist of any suitable frame work including for linstance side frames such as 1, cross frames or rails such as 2, tieV rods or bars such as 3, and the usual transverse shafts operated through suitable.

gearin in a well lmown manner.

A p` e of sheets indicated by P is mounted upon a suitable automatically elevated table or support.

5 is a constantly driven shaft arranged transversely of the feeding machine at its delivery end. Said shaft 5 carries a suitable number of the usual under feed rollers 6, with two or more of which cooperate the usual drop rollers 7 freely journaled in the rear ends 'of rock arms 8 mounted upon a rock shaft 9 and actuated by an upwardly projecting rock arm 10 carrying at its uper end an anti-friction roller 11 which runs in peripheral contact with the controlling and operating cam 12 keyed to the main y cam shaft 2O of the feeding machine. This f which is shown and described in Patent No.

7 47,865 granted December 22nd, 1903. These tail grips may', however, be especiallyfdesigned to be used only in a machine equipped with the' present calipering and separating devices. The specific mechanism for operating the tail rips is not shown in the drawings, but will well-understood by those skilled in the art, it being clear that th operating mechanism for .said tail grips must be so timed that the tail grips will o erate to engage the pile alternately with t e feeding off devices so as to hold the pile durin the time that the successive sheets are being delivered from the pile by the drop roller delivery mechanism.

Any suitable form of feeding off devices may be employed. Machines of this type usually have two sets of feeding off devices arranged in parallel vertical longitudinal planes above the pile of sheets so as to feed the successive sheets forward as nearly as possible in squared or registered position.

In Figs. 1 and 8 of the drawings, the

.reference numerals 25 indicate some suitable form of feeding off devices designed to move forwardly the successive top sheets from the pile into the control of the calipering and separating devices and into position for the operation of the drop roller delivery mechanism. The specific form of feeding off device illustrated is not described herein because it is fully set forth in Patent No. 768,979, granted AugustBOth, 1904.

It will be understood that the above described features of an automatic paper feeding machine are quite common in the art and are not specifically claimed in the preseiit case excepting in combination with the features of the improved sheet calipering and separating devices, of which two sets are preferably employed arranged upon opposite sides of the central line of the machine. The mechanism of one set of these devices will now be described.

50 is a bracket having a forwardly presented horizontal yoke 51 which embraces the rearwardly presented flange 2a of the front cro-ss rail 2 of the feeding machine frame. One or more' set screws 52 are threaded through the lower arm of yoke 51 and engage the chamfered face 2b on the under surface of flange 2a for rigidly securing the bracket 50 in position upon the machine, frame. As -shown articularly in Fig. 4 of the drawings, the racket 50 pro- `jects upwardly in 'rear ofthe constantly driven shaft 5 between two of the under feed rollers 6 above described, the upper end of bracket 50 being in the form of a U- shaped oke presentlngtwo' bearing' arms 55 inwhich7 is journaled a short` shaft 56 carrying between the arms 55 a circumferentially 1%grooved rubberfaced roller 57. This roller 57 is constantly driven in a direction reversely to the direction of the under feed rollers 6, that is, with its upper periphery.

moving rearwardly toward the pile of sheets. Roller 57 is constantly driven by means of a pinion 58 keyed to the projecting end of its shaft 56 and meshing with a small ear 59 keyed to the constantly driven sha t 5, such a gearing being shown particularly in Fig. 4 of the drawings.

Vertically dovetailed to vthe rear face of the ybracket 50 is a sliding block 60 upon which are -mounted a series of fingers 65 set y into`inclined recesses 61 formed in the block which passes through a guide lug 67 presented rearwardly 1n the bracket 50.` An expansion spring 68 surrounds the rod 66 and is confined between-a collar 69 upon the rod and the bracket lug 67, an adjusting nut 70 and binding nut 71 being threaded upon the lower end of rod 66 to permit the very tical movement of the block carrying fingers and for limiting the upward movement of said parts. The adjustment for operation is such that the fingers 65 will be presented a little bit above the upper periphery of the grooved under roller 57, so as to normally prevent the frictional engagement ofsaid roller 57 with a sheet.

The upper calipering member which cooperates with the lower calipering fingers 65 and separating roller 57 is preferably in the form of a roller shown at' 75 journaled in theV bearings 76 of the oke 77 which is mounted upon the rear en s of the rock' arm 78 journaled upon-the cross vshaft 79. This shaft 79 is constantly driven through any suitable means from a part of the feeding machine and has ikeyed toit between theA arms 78 a small gear 8O which meshes with a similar gear 81 keyed toan intermediate shaft82 having mounted upon its projecting end a gear 83 meshing with an intermediate gear 84 which in turn drives a gear 85 keyed to .the projecting end of shaft 7 5 offthe ulpper calipering roller 75. By this e roller 75 is constantly .rotated means t in the samefdirection as the under roller 57 so that their adjacent peripherieS--that is, the upper periphery of roller 57 and the lower peripheryof roller 75, will move Iin opposite directions.

, Pivotally connected with the rocking yok shaped frame 7 7 7 8 is an upwardly eXtending pitman 90 which is formed with a U- shaped fork orguide 91 which straddles thel cam shaft 20 and is confined between the hub of a cam 100 and a collar 101. This pitman 90 carries -a lug 92 through which passes an adjusting screw 93 which enga-ges an adjustable block 94 supported against one face of pitman 90 by means of a tap bolt 95 which passes through a vertical slot 96 formed in the pitman 90 and is threaded intothe adjustable block 94. This block 94 has journaled upon it an anti-friction roller 97'which' operates in peripheral engagement I with the controlling and operating cam 100. An arm 105 projects rearwardly from stay bar 3 and carries at its end a pin 106 to'- which is attached the upper end of a spring 107 connected at its lower end to a pin projecting from the rockin yoke-shaped frame 77-7 8. rlhe spring 10 tends to raise the frame 7 7-7 8 moving upper calipering roller 75 away from the lower calipering member, the upward movement being limited by the engagement of anti-friction roller 97 with the controlling cam 100. The construction is such that the high portion of the cam 100 positively forces the roller 7 5 downwardly into a predetermined position, depending upon the position of the block 94 upon pitman 90.

As shown particularly in Fig. 4 of the drawings, the upper calipering roller'75 is presented directly'above the lower separating roller 57 and the lower calipering fingers 65. As shown particularly in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, the controlling cams 12 and 100 are so arranged relatively that the upper calipering roller 75 will be moved down 1nto operative position and held in that position for a suiicient period to permit the feedingv o devices to feed a vsheet or sheets beneath it, and that the drop vroller delivery mechanism is held out of operation. Vwhile said calipering and separating action is taking place, and will be thrown into operation immediately after the calipering roller 75 is raised away from the plane of feed. Said calipering roller is intermittently moved out of operation to yavoid unnecessary wear, although it will be clear that said roller could be permitted to remain in cali ering position continuously without inter ering with its operation. As shown in Fig. 9, 'the upper calipering member' may be able by any suitable means such as shown at 1.11 So as to lace it in accurate relation to the under calipering members or lingers 65.

The operation of a feeding machine with the improved calipering and separatilgV devices ap lied will be clear from the f lo ing exp anation: The feeding off devices move into engagement with the top sheet of the pile and feed it forward causing its front edge to engage the lower feed rollers 6 and Acurved upper portionsv of lower cali ering iin ers 65, the upper calipering mem rs or rol ers 75 having just previous to the action of the feeding ofi" devices been moved down` into cali ering position. If a single sheet only has n moved forward b the feeding ofi' devices, the sheet is plac in position for delivery without any'v action on the part of the lipering and separating devices, the 4 lower calipering fingers 65 sup orting the sheet out of contact with the ower separator rollers 57 so that said rollers cannot have any action upon the sheet. When the single sheet reaches proper position for action of the sheet delivery mechanism, the feeding off devices have completed their forward feeding stroke and are raised out of 'contact with the pile, and'at the same time the upper calipering members. are raised, the holding down feet are moved into clamping envagement with the pile, and the drop roller deivery mechanism is thrown into action to rapidly feed the sheetfrom the pile to the sheet conveyer or other mechanism arranged to receive it. If, perchance, the feeding off devices feed forward two sheets from the pile, (it being understood that the upper calipering member is lowered just prior to the action of vsaid feeding off devices), the pressure created by the forcing of the extra thickness of sheets between the upper and lower calipering members will cause the depression of the spring sustained lower callpering members or lingers 65 so as to permit the under sheet to come into frictional contact with the lower separator rollers 57 with the result that this under sheet will be separa-ted from the top sheet and be positively moved rearwardly slightly toward the pile, while the top sheet under the action of the feeding ofi' devices and u per calipering rollers 75 will be moved fbrward into the position, from which it is immediately afterward delivered by the drop roller delivery mechanism in the manner just eX- plained.

In practice, machines tol which the present improvements are applied are usually arranged to feed the successive separated sheets to a conveyer which transfers the sheets to a printing ress, foldingmachine or other machine esigned to operate upon them. The sheet conveyers are commonly provided with some form of sheet straightening devices vwhich not only squame the sheets upon the conveyer before they reach the gages of the machine lto which' they are being fed,

but also serve to time the arrival of the sucu slight inaccuracies in the advancement ofl ikieets from the automatic pa er feeding maine caused by some of the s eets projecting forwardly from the pile a little more than others at the commencement of the feeding off.operation,-particularly such sheets which have been moved forward with a top sheet and separated and pushed back slightly by the under separator rolls.

While our invention has been designed with particular reference to feeding and separating thick and heavy sheets of pa er, such as cardboardit will of course be un erstood that by reason of the adjustmentpof the parts, the machine may be set to handle yan thickness of sheets so long as there is Suit ient stiffness and ri 'dity in the sheets to permit thel feeding o devices to operate upon the sheets in the manner explained.

What we claim is:

1. In a aper feedin machine, the combination of) a sup ort or a pile of sheets, and a feeding olf evice operatin upon said pile, with a rearwardly fee ing roller operating below the plane of feed and over which sheets are passed by said feeding olf device, sheet cali rin means operating simultaneously wit said feeding o device and preventing the action of said roller upon a sheet when a single sheet is passing, and causing the action of said roller upon the under sheet or sheets when more than one sheet is passing, pile holding clamps adapted to e the pile in rear of the top sheet, and suitable sheet delivery mechanism.

2. In combination with the feeding off and sheet delivery devices of a paper feeding machine, a separator roller mounted in stationary bearings below the plane of feed, an upper calipering member movable toward and away from said roller, a yieldingly mounted lower calipering member su ported adjacent to the periphery of said roller, and means for operating said roller in the direction to move sheets rearwardly.

3. In combination with the feeding off devices the sheet delivery devices and pile holding clamps of a paper feeding machine, a separator roller mounted in stationary bearings beneath the plane of feed, an upper calipering member movable toward and away from said roller, and' a ieldingly mounted calipering shoe support adjacent to the periphery of said roller and means for operating said roller in the direction to move sheets rearwardly.

.4. In a-paper feeding machine, the combination of a pile support, sheet feeding devices operating above said support, drop roller sheet delivery mechanism, and a sheet 'calipering and separating mechanism comabove the plane of fee means for raising termittently operated drop rolle` f and lowering said upper roller with relation to said lower roller, and a yieldingly mounted lower calipering member arran ed adjacent to said lower roller and a apted to support single sheets out of contact with sai lower roller, substantially as set forth.

5. In a Paper feeding machine, the combination o a pile support, sheet feeding devices operating above said support, sheet 'delivery mechanism including a constantly driven lower shaft carrying roller d incoperating therewlth, a sheet separating roller supported beneath the plane of feed and geared to said constantly rotating shaft to rotate reversely to said under feed rollers,

an upper cali ering member supported above the plane of eed, 1n proper relation to said separator roller, and a yieldingly mounted lower calipering member arranged adjacent to said lower separating roller and adapted to support single sheets out of contact with said separator roller.

6. Ina aper feeding machine, the coml bination orp a pile support, sheet feeding devices operating above said support, sheet dellvery mechanism, and a sheet callpermg and separating mechanism mounted adjacent to said delivery mechanism and comprising an annularly grooved separator roller su ported beneath the plane of feed, a yielding y mounted block carrying lower calipermg fingers projecting into the annu-- `lar'grooves of said separator roller and supported above the periphery of said separator roller, and an upper cali ering member su ported above the plane o sheets and movab e toward and away from said lower calipering lingers.

v 7. In a paper feeding machine, the combination o a pile support, sheet feeding devices operatin above said support, sheet delivery mechanism, pile holding clamps, and a sheet calipering and separating mechanism comprising a lower roller supported beneath the plane of feed, an upper roller sup orted upon a rock arm above the plane o feed, means for raising and lowerin said upper roller with relation to said ower roller, means for driving said rollers to cause their adjacent peripheries to move in opposite directions, and a yieldingly mounted lower caliperin member arranged adjacent to said A lower rol er and adapte to support single ksheets out of cont-act with said lower roller, Csubstantially as set forth.

TALBOT C. DEXTER. VERNON GARNER.

Witnesses:

A. C. HAMMQND, IRvnN H. DEXTER. 

